Optical array for high-quality imaging in harsh environments

A system comprising:

• one or more hardware processors with memory coupled thereto;
• non-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions to be executed by the hardware processors;
• and
• a plurality of cameras coupled to the hardware processors and supported on a mount to view a common scene from a common direction, wherein the cameras collectively provide polarization diversity and one or more of:
• exposure diversity or spectral diversity;
• wherein the hardware processors are configured to execute the instructions, causing the hardware processors to:
• process the light collected by the first cameras as raw images to obtain respective first images, wherein two given first images correspond to a pulsed light source being on and off respectively;
• process the first images to obtain a fused image of the common scene, wherein processing the first images comprises computing a difference between the two given first images to reduce glare or reflection from environmental illumination;
• extract a snippet of the fused image for matching in a face database;
• and
• obtain an identification of a person based on the matching.

A method comprising:

• acquiring a plurality of raw images of a scene synchronously at respective cameras, wherein the cameras collectively provide two or more of:
• exposure diversity, spectral diversity, or polarization diversity, wherein two given raw images correspond to a pulsed light source being on and off respectively;
• processing the raw images to extract a face snippet, wherein the processing comprises reducing glare or reflection from environmental illumination by computing a difference from the two given raw images;
• transmitting the face snippet over a network to a remote face database;
• and
• receiving, over the network:
• identifications of first and second persons matching the face snippet in the face database;
• and
• respective probabilities for the matching of the first and second persons.